Gus Chan, The Plain DealerFormer Cuyahoga County commissioner Jimmy Dimora confers with his defense attorney Andrea Whitaker outside the federal courthouse in Akron, Ohio. Dimora's fate is now in the hands of a jury in the federal racketeering case.

AKRON -- The jury in the Jimmy Dimora federal racketeering trial deliberated for four hours this morning, and at times could be heard from the courtroom laughing from inside the deliberation room.

Live trial coverage

Follow Jimmy Dimora's trial live with The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com. We have a team of reporters covering the trial every day, providing live updates and video reports throughout. Find that coverage at cleveland.com/countyincrisis

They also and asked U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi for the legal definitions of interstate commerce and foreign commerce -- both of which are elements of the racketeteering charges, which both Dimora and co-defendant, Michael Gabor are charged with.

Lioi called the jurors into the courtroom to instruct them that interstate commerce is trade, business or travel between one state and another, and that foreign commerce is trade, business or travel between one state and a foreign country.

Defense attorney Andrea Whitaker objected to the judge reading the definition to the jury, arguing that to do so placed undo emphasis on that aspect of the law, which was read to the jury during instructions earlier in the week.

She said the only legal remedy for an incorrect jury instruction is a mistrial.

The charges against Dimora are found in a 37-count, 148-page federal indictment, (known as the Third Superseding Indictment, which replaced a 36-count federal indictment filed earlier) alleging that he used his county commissioner's office as the base to run a criminal enterprise. Dimora is on trial along with Gabor, of
Parma, a former office assistant in the auditor's office. Gabor is accused of bribery and conspiracy, including a charge that he tried to pay a judge $10,000 to fix his divorce case.